Article 5638 of rec.music.progressive: Path: newsstand.cit.cornell.edu!news.graphics.cornell.edu!hookup!news.umbc.edu!haven.umd.edu!cs.umd.edu!mojo.eng.umd.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!satisfied.apocalypse.org!news2.near.net!news.umass.edu!rcfnews.cs.umass.edu!barrett From: barrett@cs.umass.edu (Daniel Barrett) Newsgroups: rec.music.progressive Subject: Re: The most amazing performance I've ever seen! (Bela Fleck) Date: 4 Aug 1995 15:02:12 GMT Organization: BLAZEMONGER INCORPORATED Lines: 47 Message-ID: <3vtcpk$ab0@kernighan.cs.umass.edu> References: <3vql79INNo2a@ctron-news.ctron.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: scooby.cs.umass.edu Cc: In article <3vql79INNo2a@ctron-news.ctron.com>, Rob Martino wrote: >I had the pleasure of being completely blown away a couple nights >ago in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire by Bela Fleck and the Flectones. Let me "second" Rob's recommendation. DO NOT MISS the Flecktones if they come to play in your area. If they are within 50-100 miles, they are worth the drive too. And pay any price. They are the best live band I've seen 17 years of concert-going. >And I just have to say this.. is there a better bass player than >Victor Wooten on the planet? His bass solo got a stanging ovation, >it BLEW THE AUDIENCE AWAY. His hands moved effortlessly... Victor Wooten is the god of the bass guitar. He is the best live musician I've ever seen on ANY instrument in ANY style of music. This includes Steve Morse and Allan Holdsworth, who previously were the most impressive performers I had seen live. Wooten is the only musician I can imagine who gets a standing ovation for playing a "simple" song like "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" on bass. I don't know how he does it, but he somehow combines *incredible* performance technique with an amazing musical intuition. His solos aren't just flashy - they have SOUL and DEEP MUSICALITY. (And it doesn't hurt that he can play the bass faster than most lead guitarists!) Everybody should see this guy play at least once. I posted this a while back, for people who have never seen Wooten play.... THE TEN STAGES OF VICTOR WOOTEN WORSHIP ========================================================================= Stage 1: "What a dumb-looking hat." Stage 2: "Well, actually, he is pretty decent." Stage 3: "Hey! He can play fast!" Stage 4: [KA-BA-TWONG!] "Whoa, what the HELL did he just do??" Stage 5: "HOLY SHIT!!!!!!!! NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!" Stage 6: "This guy is UN-BELIEVABLE!!!!!" Stage 7: "This guy is the BEST INSTRUMENTALIST I have EVER seen!!" Stage 8: "WOW!! There is NO WAY he can top THAT!!" Stage 9: "OH MY GOD!!!!!!!" Stage 10: Dan //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | Dan Barrett -- Computer Science Dept, University of MA, Amherst, MA 01003 | | http://www.cs.umass.edu/~barrett/public.html -- barrett@cs.umass.edu | \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////